Bang ’Em and Hang ’Em! Drag Week’s Stick Shift Shootout!

A New Tradition Takes Shape

In 2016, Brent McCoy started what is now an unofficial tradition at Drag Week: the Stick Shift Shootout. Brent noticed there was a bit of downtime between rounds of the Street Machine Eliminator brackets, so he approached Frank Romano with his plan. Brent knew fellow gear-slinger Frank was in cahoots with several other Drag Week racers who survived the races with their stick-shifted cars, so they assembled a list of interested parties and asked Drag Week staff if they could form their own single-elimination bracket. We had no objections, so a handful of racers ponied up $20 each for an entry fee, with the winner taking the whole purse. The Stick Shift Shootout’s inaugural run ended with Frank Romano grabbing the win and the cash.

For 2017, many of the same players were ready to pitch in to take their own shot at the purse, and more importantly, the trophy that Frank Roman built in the meantime. Assembled from bits of fragged transmission donated by Randy Franklin, Jeff Sias, Andy Starr, Rich Guido, and Frank himself, the base is part of the clutch disc that blew up on Frank’s first Drag Week in 2010. Engraved on one tab of the disc are the racers’ names and the final e.t.’s.